It’s a well-established fact that the most frightening of horror movies play off of primal fears, or making something scary out of everyday objects. Needless to say, through my teens, I had endured a recurring nightmare so intense that it would plague both my sleeping and conscious mind. The root of this nightmare, the fuel behind the terror was simple: it was the fear that I would grow up to drive a Mazda Miata.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to discourage you from considering a Miata the next time you’re visiting a Mazda Dealership. The Miata (or MX-5) was solidly conceived to resurrect the minimalist styling of the classic British roadster. But while the intent is appreciable, it wasn’t long into 1990’s before the first generation offerings became a staple of twenty-something-year-old girls, and forty-something divorced men. Fun, sporty, diminutive and lightweight it was the antithesis of what I (and my muscle car heritage) valued in a vehicle, and soon it felt like it became a caricature of itself. Less the James Bond car it was conceptualized as, and more of a mid-life crisis that wouldn’t break the bank, it represented almost everything I feared.
Much like the boogeyman, or killer porcelain dolls, my adult mind would lock away any possible acknowledgment of the Miata’s existence. Skipping over the 2nd and 3rd generations entirely, the almost entirely rebranded MX-5 would only regain my attention in the 2015 model year.
Building upon the hallmarks of its predecessor, it was still affordable (less than $30K) even shorter and even lighter. Recognized at the New York Auto Show as “World Car of the Year”, it would evolve further into the magnificent MX-5 RF variant. Fastback styling imbues the MX-5 with characteristics that make it feel less like the go-to of sororities and creepy uncles. It truly does feel bad-ass, and then the lighter curb weight (approximately 2200 LBS) makes the 155 horses and 148 lb-ft of torque feel like twice as much.
Interested in an MX-5? Find out more about the Miata’s surprisingly rich heritage, and its solid racing cred, in the video below.
